1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to an improved data processing system and in particular to an improved method and system for determining the status of users within a data processing system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to an improved method and system for nonvisual determination of the status of users simultaneously utilizing a selected application within a data processing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years modern state-of-the-art data processing systems have become increasingly complex and the interface between users and such systems has undergone a concomitant increase in complexity. Graphical user interfaces now exist which permit users to interact with objects within the data processing system in a manner similar to the manner in which such objects are manipulated in the real world. For example, in order to file a document in a folder which is located within a file cabinet in the work place, a user will open the file cabinet, locate and open the correct folder, and then place the document inside. In the electronic work place of the graphical user interface, the user performs a similar process. Thus, a user will open the file cabinet icon, locate the correct folder icon, and then drop the document icon in the located folder. Because this is an electronic environment, users do not have to open the folder to put the document into it. However, users are thus able to utilize their knowledge of a real work place in order to perform this operation.
Another example of the manner in which modern data processing systems simulate the work place is the utilization of so-called "groupware." In a groupware environment, multiple users are simultaneously active within a single application. In this manner, as in the real world, several users may simultaneously utilize documents, spread sheets, databases and design systems. The flexibility with which multiple users may utilize a single application in such systems makes it necessary to provide coordination of the activities of these users. For example, it is desirable for a groupware participant to be able to determine how many other participants are active within an application, where those participants are working within an application and at what activity level those participants are engaged.
One technique by which users may be advised of activities within a data processing system involves the utilization of sound. This technology is frequently utilized by blind and visually impaired computer users and often includes speech synthesis and voice recognition. It has also been suggested that programmers could write software with built-in voice labels for icons. See Lazzaro, Windows of Vulnerability, Byte Magazine, June 1991, at page 416.
Various synthetic or recorded speech solutions for making computer display contents available to blind persons have also been suggested, for example in Golding et al., IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 26, No. 10B, pages 5633-5636 (March 1984); and, Barnett et al., IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 26, No. 10A, pages 4950-4951 (March 1984).
Additionally, there have been suggested systems which include a mouse with a braille transducer so that a blind mouse user may read text and obtain certain tactile position feedback from such a mouse. Comerford, IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin No. 3, Vol. 28, page 1343 (August 1985); and Affinito, et al., IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin No. 12, Vol. 31, page 386 (May 1989). However, while announcing various text items, either audibly or by means of a braille transducer in the mouse, such systems may provide some information to a blind user, they do not enable the user to navigate about and locate objects on the computer display screen.
There have been suggested an audible cursor positioning and pixel (picture element) status identification mechanism which may be utilized to help a user of an interactive computer graphics system locate data by utilizing aural feedback to enhance visual feedback. As the cursor in such a system is stepped across the screen, an audible click is generated which varies in tone corresponding in tone to the current status of each pixel encountered. With this combination in audible and visual cursor feedback, it becomes a simple task to identify the desired line by noting the change in tone as the cursor moves. For color display applications, each color is represented by a distinct tone so that any single pixel may be distinguished from surrounding pixels of a different color. It has been suggested that this system is especially helpful for visually impaired or learning disabled users. Drumm et al., IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin No. 48, Vol. 27, page 25-28 (September 1984). However, the foregoing disclosure does not suggest a means of enabling a blind user to navigate about or locate objects on a computer display screen.
Recently, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/746,838, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,828, filed Aug. 19, 1991, a system has been disclosed which permits a blind or visually impaired user to interact with a so-called "message box" within a graphical user interface. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, each message box consists of an icon, explanatory text, and one or more "push buttons." The icon allows the user to identify visually the type of message. The text typically explains the situation and may provide assistance. The textual content may be a question or a statement. Push buttons provided within a message box typically allow the user to interact with the message box.
The system described above permits blind or visually impaired users to accommodate a message box by announcing the textual contents of such a box when the message box first appears. Thereafter, the push buttons available to respond to the message box are also announced in order from left to right. A homing signal is then provided for finding the message box which increases in pitch as the mouse pointer approaches the message box. When the pointer enters the message box, the message box text and available push buttons are reannounced and the pointer is automatically moved to a default push button. By utilizing this system, a blind or visually impaired user may locate a message box within a computer display system; however, this system fails to provide any suggestion of a manner in which a blind or visually impaired user may selectively locate multiple displayed elements within a graphical user interface.
Another method and system have also been recently disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/746,480, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,031, filed Aug. 19, 1991, which permits a blind or visually impaired user to locate a mouse pointer or other graphical pointing device within the client area of a window within a graphical user interface by providing a stereo sound system and varying the intensity of the left and right audio channels to indicate a position of the mouse pointer. This system also proposes an increase in pitch of an associated sound to indicate the position of the pointer in the top or bottom of the client area of a window. While this system permits a blind or visually impaired user to manipulate a mouse pointer within a graphical user interface, it fails to show or suggest any technique whereby a particular one of a group of displayed graphical elements may be selected by such a user.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 802,956, filed Dec. 5, 1991, discloses a method and system which enables a blind or visually impaired user to select a displayed graphic element within a computer system by associating an audible signal with each element within the display and thereafter generating a composite audio signal which includes elements of each audible signal associated with the displayed graphic element within a predetermined radius of the cursor.
While each of the aforementioned systems greatly enhances the ability of a blind, visually impaired or visually occupied user to interface with a data processing system, none of these systems permit a user to determine the status of other users within a groupware application wherein multiple users are simultaneously active within a single application. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that it would be desirable for a particular user to be able to efficiently determine the number of others users within a groupware application, the location of such users within the work place and the level of activity of such users within a groupware application.